De'ja Davis was killed during a burglary as she helped her godmother prepare for Thanksgiving dinner in 2011. Police said she was killed by her godmother's husband, who later died in a shootout with police.

Her school and senior classmates have never forgotten her and made arrangements for her mother and brother to accept a posthumous diploma. The classmates also held fundraisers and clothing drives in her honor.

Stephanie Davis said she was proud to accept the honor and she's pleased that the school wanted to do it.

"I have so many emotions right now. Joy and sadness," she said. "I miss her, oh, terribly now."

She said felt immense pride in her daughter's graduation, immense pain that she wasn't there and immense gratitude for how the school embraced her.

"They just never let me forget that they were thinking about her. That helped me a lot," Stephanie Davis said. "I hadn't forgotten about her. But I didn't know they hadn't forgotten about her, either."

De'ja Davis was remembered as bright, opinionated, someone who always had the last word and someone who was devoted to family and friends.

Just before many of those friends accepted their diplomas, Stephanie Davis fought back tears as she accepted her daughter's diploma.

"I love her. I miss her. She deserves her diploma," she said. "I thank Ruskin and the school district. Without them, where would I be? What would her memory be? They kept it going on for her. For me."

Alycia Cornelius, who died in a car crash last year, was also given a posthumous diploma.